Recommendation 15

We asked the Department if it still believed that a ‘degree only’ route was the right approach to police recruitment, given the operational impact of taking officers away for college learning. We noted that stakeholders had suggested that such a one size fits all approach might discourage some candidates, such as those from a military background, for who alternative approaches might work better, and whether it was willing to consider other options.22 The Department told us that police chiefs were fully signed up to the PEQF, and that it had a specific project looking at how to take into account the existing skills of candidates from a military background in order to reduce their training period when joining the police. The Department said that survey evidence from 3,500 new officers indicated that they felt better prepared for their role as police officers as a result of the PEQF approach compared to the old system, though this does not answer the question of whether some people were put off applying in the first place. We questioned whether the approach to training requirements for new officers was working for police forces. In response, the Department told us that this was necessary to ensure new officers learned the necessary theory and then had the opportunity to reinforce this with operational practice under the supervision of more experienced officers. It explained that its approach was “not about spending a lot of time in the classroom …. [or] writing theoretical essays” but about providing relevant on-the-job training.23